A fearful thing happened on Tuesday. Woke up, resume my desktop from sleep, prepared to leave for classes, then noticed the the PC is off again.  It surely was not a power outage, because then the computer would turn on when I pressed the power button again…

This is one of the “oh shit” moment I really do not like to see.  Especially not knowing that I have to leave in 10 minutes and cannot fix it until I get back.

As anxiety lingered for the entire day as I explored my options.  I have a netbook capable of playing Guild Wars and could let me do Planetary Interaction in Eve Online–that’s about all I have been doing lately.  And a Nook Color is by my side, running the best Android mod, which I used to write most of this post for. Last but not least, a Samsung Galaxy phone with better hardware than the Nook Color but with less favorable screen size.

The PSU’s connectors had trouble interfacing with the grandmotherboard before, and if it was indeed the same issue, 15 minutes is the maximum amount of time I need to fix it.  Surely if the PSU is to die all the important stuff (CPU, graphics card, and hard drive) would preserve, right?

After a closer inspection, I confirmed the issue is not the connectors: the PSU sparked and emitted a familiar smell when I fiddle with it.

That was definitely what I hoped for but definitely not the worst thing that could happen.  My “backup” power supply is a 460 watt CoolMaster, and it appeared that she could not produce enough juice to satisfy the thirst of my quad core CPU and GTX460.  Though after downgrading back to my old 9500GT (and unplugged a number of peripherals), the damn machine finally booted normally.

A lesson is learned: don’t buy a cheap PSU of an unknown brand and hope it will last.  The replacement: A Rosewill Green Series PSU, 530 watt with active PFC for $50.  Given the amount of good ratings it has on Newegg, I feel it will outperform its predecessor in both longevity and delivering enough power to all the USB connections, which the dead PSU did not do well on.

It is definitely infuriating and inexcusible to notice my domain name expired once again.  Apparently, it is the price I have to pay for not checking my email over the weekend… I call it BS, as the plug was pulled only one day after the initial bill was sent to me from my webhosting company, ByetHost.

If you faintly (or vividly) feels familiarity in this event, then let me confirm the deja vu to be justified.  As a mean to stop this “annual facepalm event” to incur more humility, I have made some arrangement.

It is called automatic domain name renewal. I hope it will do the trick.

龙年快乐！

I was wondering whether I came out of closet–of being a fanboy of ArenaNet.  Looking back to my last Guild Wars post, the answer is yes.  Oh and, in case you wonder, this post is about Guild Wars 2 release date! (True Story!)

We recently finished our first closed beta test, and we’re now ready to hold progressively larger events. In February we’ll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we’ll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate. And of course, this all leads to the release of Guild Wars 2 later this year.

Source: ArenaNet blog

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I won’t be part of the “select press” (read: various MMO news/review sites), so I’ll bet my luck on March and April of 2012… to say “bet my luck” is accurate since this is not an announcement of an open beta.  It is cleared up in this thread on GW2 Guru forum by the developer guy who wrote the post: the term “open beta” is purposely avoid as currently ArenaNet are not arranging a play session open for “anybody on the interwebs”.  The speculation seems to be that there will be preview weekends where the game opens up a selected area for a greater audience to participate.

This of course does not mean there will be no open beta (in its contemporary meaning) for GW2.  It is possible the OB will come shortly before the game releases.

And for original Guild Wars, things have been fun.  A recent update to Elementalist profession skills finally convince me to start playing it once again.  The reason being my main character (albeit my only active character to play for the purpose of casually filling up Hall of Monuments), is indeed an Elementalist.  For a long time in GW’s metagame, Ele’s role in parties (in difficult PvE areas) is not the DD/Spiker despite the original intent of the developers and the general perception of “mages” in RPG.  This update made some remedy to that; by buffing Ele elite skills, ArenaNet gave Elementalists more options in building skill bars.  Although it did not made Ele the new “OP class”, the update rejuvenated the game’s metagame–something the Elementalist profession really needed.

My last hiatus took place before some of other good changes in Guild Wars: team of 7 heroes, and Guild Wars Beyond’s Cantha installation: Winds of Change.  From point of view of a GW lore fan, I feel WoC’s story has not been very interesting compare to the earlier chapters (War in Kryta and Hearts of the North).  ANet seems to have shift their focus to GW2 to the point that WoC story has not concluded for months… something I hope will change along the recent frequent skill updates.

Despite the definite areas of potential improvement, Guild Wars being the source of its sequel’s hype is entirely justified.  The game is unique and a classic in many aspects within the online/MMO/RPG industry.  I highly recommend full purchase ($30+$20 USD for the Trilogy and Eye of the North expansion) of this game for anyone who don’t hate role-playing games.

「生存戦略、しましょうか」

Not going into the details which I’m sure you’d heard about it more or less.  I’m here only to say: Thank you, wikipedia, for risking your reputation to stand up against the Evil that is breeding in the US Congress before it becomes too late.  You are not only fighting for your own survival, but much of the whole Internet.

Price: 4,620 yen

Homepage: www.nitroplus.co.jp/game/kikokugai/

Hopefully by now everybody knows the name of Urobuchi Gen.  His gain of fame after a certain plot twist in a certain magical girl anime is almost legendary, and then his popularity reached a new high for his other work, Fate/Zero became animated.  As a fan of both anime and Saya no Uta, Kikokugai became a must-play for me.  Yet due to I’m not good at handling old games, the thought of reading the visual novel made in 2003 always made me hesitate… Luckily, the Kikokugai received a remake in 2011 in wake Urobuchi’s (and Nitro+‘s) popularity.

Even though the remake is no longer R-18, this classic still retains the darkened attractiveness of a hard-boiled cyberpunk dystopian tale of revenge.

In a futuristic Shanghai where the rise of cybernetic technology has energized by local mafia, a man is set to avenge the rape and murder of his younger sister.  There are five people on his list: his former comrades who gang raped the poor girl and then each received a cyborg doll with part of her conscious soul.

I’m not sure whether Urobuchi is fan of Masamune Shirow: the world setting of Kikokugai is practically a Chinese wuxia novel interpretation of Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell (which not surprisingly, another favorite of mine).  Many of Kikokugai’s theme resonates with what made GiTS a contemporary classic–physical prowess of cyborg bodies and discussion of digitize human soul (or “ghost”).

Unlike Nitro+ and Urobuchi’s other works, Kikokugai is a rather short visual novel with no branching option and only one ending.  I roughly spent only about 4 hours to finish reading it.  Pretty early into the story the reader would notice its ending is blandly predictable–like a multiple choice question, instead of short answer question, where the reader is kept under constant plot progression until later into the story.  Nonetheless, a predictable ending does not mean a predictable path, and this is where Urobuchi’s style cuts in.  His text is balanced in terms of narration and dialog along with a near perfect pacing between tense and relaxed scenes, without forgetting to give enough background information regarding the world and characters.

Looking at the evolution of Chuuou’s artwork is interesting.  Improvement was expected–and is apparent in the remake version– as eight years have past since the original version.  Although the character design looks mostly the same, noticeable differences such as the size of character forehead can be seen.  Of course, the remake version’s coloring, shading and other polish leaves no hints of the original age of this visual novel.  Combined with the unusual choice of using 3D rendered still-scenery BG, the game’s mood is uniquely baked, which is quite fitting given the scifi (science fantasy) Shanghai as the stage.

Since I have not played the original Kikokugai, I don’t know about how much improvements were made in the remake version on terms of special effects and stuff.  What I can testify is the new Kikokugai’s combat scenes left me thirsty for a full length animated movie.  The wuxia elements are quite heavy during these scenes, so I’m not sure how a lack of textual commentary could be complimented.  These dazzling SE combined with 15 BGM tracks and a full voice cast.. even though the game is a remake, 4600 yen price isn’t too much after all.  /CM_mode_off

The interface, unlike the game’s graphics, are less clear whether it is advanced or retro.  Most of the interface and all of the narration and dialog in game are vertical; it may be stylish, but  I don’t know how it can be translate to English without breaking the atmosphere.

I successfully regurgitated my old appetite of visual novels for the latter half of my winter break.  Larger chunks of free time => less interruption between start and finish of a VN => good.  Last year has been a procrastinating one for me, luckily only 4 or 5 titles released in 2011 that remotely interesting.  I probably should work on reducing my backlog instead of getting new games and potentially enlarge the said backlog, but oh well, it’s the new year and I need some treat :p

Aiyoku no Eustia (穢翼のユースティア) has been one of the most anticipated visual novels of 2011.  Given its popularity and praise on ErogeScape after its release, it is also one of the best of 2011.  After beating the main arc and two side routes, I can certainly see the reason behind its high scores and favorable reviews.  Aiyoku is like a Hollywood movie: high production value with a tried-and-proven plot.  Though the game’s “Sword & Love” fantasy story isn’t exactly my favorite setting, but there are enough climaxes and twists in the story that kept me reading 3 AM in the morning.

Before I dive into HORRIBLE (HORRIBLE!) SPOILERS about the game’s ending and all, I’d like to recommend it to the genre, especially those that are new to visual novels.

Destiny and fate, although cliche to the point of no return, is a formidable foe felt and feared by nearly all characters (who, according to Caim, are still sane) in Aiyoku.  Pretty early in the last chapter of the game, it is clear that Eustia is destined to save Novas Aitel, and is fated to die for that destiny of hers.  I am relieved for the writer did not incur a “miracle”–a third option other than the mutual exclusive choices of either sacrifice Eustia or everyone dies.  The story ends with Eustia sacrificed herself for the sake of others.  It is typical, and it comes with an omake: the City landed on a cleansed earth peacefully.  Individuals up from royalties down to residents of the Prison would rejoice, as their existence is no longer confined by the size of a uplifted land and their lives is no longer threatened by a violent fall.

But considering those who gave their lives before and during the struggle, do some of the survivors really deserve their newly found happiness?

First, let’s look at the 29th Saint Irene, Collett, and Sieg, leader of the rebel militia.  Collett is a marvelous woman.  In the closing chapter of the game, her faith in the Angel gave her a glorified charisma to become the religious leader of an armed rebel force.  What is fundamentally sad and ironic is: she is blinded by her faith and shall she and Siege successfully “rescue” the Angel, the City will sink and everybody (those who are worthy) would go see God in person.  Arguably, the disappearance of her adamant divinity of honesty is a villainy–true, the girl learned how to lie, but did her lies do any good?  No.  Her lies catalyzed an armed conflict that nearly destroyed the City.

Sieg, the real commander of the rebels, was not satisfied by getting his people out of the Prison into the Lower Level.  He went on marching toward the royal palace and aimed to topple the throne.  Maybe he really believed the crap Collett was saying, on top of his own desire to “die in a bang”.  If that is the case, then unfortunately–ignorant is the bliss–it’s easy to forgive what they have done.

Another important person in the story who lived in the end is Caim.  Given his ex-assassin expertise, incredible social connections, and most importantly, being the protagonist guy in the story, his final survival is makes sense.  Well, he may have to live the rest of his life with only one arm and one leg intact if not for the departure gift from his lover.  Even though Eustia cleansed the Earth and saved the City for no reason other than a bright future for one person–Caim, the man is still a sinner:  He was to forfeit the lives tens of thousands people on Novas Aitel, for a double suicide that Eustia would never allow to happen.

Ironically, as Caim came back for Eustia intend to become a mass murderer, he in turn saved himself plus those he was about to kill.  The person who died in Caim’s place was Lucius, Caim’s only family at that point.  Lucius’ death is extremely lamentable.  He was walking on path of a king.  He was the only person who has been consistently making logically correct decision throughout the story.  His only mistake was to underestimate the rebels’ potential (and the mistake is a grave one, I admit).  He could have allow the Prison residents to take refuge in the Lower Level in exchange of their loyalty and tranquility, or he could detach the Prison to invalidate the thousands of lives for a uninterrupted research to unlock Eustia’s powers.  As a man who engineered an earlier “fall” in the Prison, I can only think of Lucius not sinking the entire Prison is for the sake of his brother, since Caim would most certainly become an enemy once he learns the truth, that is, if they are still both alive after resolving the dispute regarding Eustia.

Don’t get me wrong.  Lucius committed crimes punishable both by man and God by conducted “detachment” twice.  But don’t forget,he was tasked to save Novas Aitel from its unknown future via a medium that is little known–the Angel’s power.  His belief was correct: if the City falls, everyone dies.  If someone has to give up their lives in order to save the city, then he will choose let less people to die to save more.  His actions of invoking Eustia’s power were also necessary for the salvation of the city–even though he won’t live to see it.  We know from hindsight that the newly reborn Angel Eustia would not be a passive source of power to be drained by Novas Aitel.  When Lucius, who was defeated by Caim and lying fatally wounded, learned that Angel Irene’s plan was to exact revenge on humanity via Eustia, he made the correct decision for one last time: saved Caim with his life since Caim would be the only person capable of convince Eustia not kill off everybody.

It is unsure whether Angel Irene realized the dual nature of passing on her power to Eustia.  Eustia can pray for eradication of humanity, or she can pray for their salvation.  If it is God’s grand design, then God is fair, right?

But why in God’s name does Lucius, the man has the purest motivation and charisma of a king, have to be fatally wounded and die for his younger brother, who finally reconciled as a rival sibling with Lucius only moment after?  Did he have to die because he needs to fulfill the role of a tragic hero?  Or because as a punishment for being the “bad guy” who’s responsible for sinking parts of the City?  Or maybe he has to die because he’s the older brother of Caim, who should rather stay dead for what happened at the day of the Grand Fall?

It is unfair for Eustia has to become like Madoka be sacrificed and only so others may live.  It is unfair for Lucius, who fought so hard for his ideal and the fate of the City, be disposed and not mentioned again.  In conclusion, Novas Aitel and its surviving residents’ final salvation, in nature is no better than the Grand Fall.  The deceased are heroes left no bodies behind while the living of ignorance and questionable characters are left to enjoy a new age prosperity.

Yes, fate is unfair, and selfish love can result in preservation of many people’s lives.  This gotta be the sourest aftertaste I’ll ever get from a “Hollywood-grade” visual novel.

おまけ： Since this piece isn’t really a review, don’t take the following scoring seriously since it’s mostly a reference for myself :p

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

My last full-sized review was written in October, 2009.  Looking back to it now, I realized how incredible it was to me to write a giant of wall of text for an eroge that I disliked (the 65/100 score is evident).  Since then my later posts usually skip the introduction and cut direct into opinion and conclusion, which unfortunately, did not qualify being called “reviews”.

My interest in Carnival dates back to the time I found its (2nd) Opening on Stage 6.  For a long time I thought the animation is a fan-made MAD until I found the avi file on the installation CD.  For a game released in 2005, the opening animation’s style is well ahead of its time.  This game is rather well-received for its 80/100 score on ErogeScape, yet apparently, not many information is available in the English speaking eroge circle.

One contributing factor may be S.M.L, the company that made Carnival, is no longer in existence. Also the game itself is rather old and can only be purchased as a digital download.  Another possible reason being the scenario is surprisingly “dark”, and can be offensive–not obvious from the game’s Opening animation, featured below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tArZNkwjFtI

Com­pany: S.M.L (<- Now disbanded)
Sce­nario: 瀬戸口廉也 (Setoguchi Renya) (‘SWAN SONG’, ‘キラ☆キラ’), 桑島由一 (Kuwashima Yoshikatsu) (‘グリーングリーン’, ‘グリザイアの果実’)
Artwork: 川原誠 (Kawahara Makoto) (‘SWAN SONG’, ‘太陽のプロミア’)
Pub­lish Date: May 14, 2005

Price: 2,800 yen (Digital version, purchasable at the Getchu page lined below)

Homepage: None.  Getchu page.

ErogeScape Median Score: 80
ErogeScape Link: http://erogamescape.dyndns.org/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/game.php?game=3478

Review continues after the cut…

Plot Synopsis

High school student Kimura Manabu (protagonist) recently became a victim of bullies.  A fatal incident occurred when Manabu’s childhood friend, Kujou Risa, a girl who goes to the same school as Manabu came to “rescue”.  Something happened.  Manabu regained his senses and saw the senpai who bullied him is dead in a pool of blood, while Risa was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Manabu was arrested, but he managed to escape from the police car when it crashed or something.  He planned to do two things before he is eventually found by the police: to see Risa one last time, and then exact revenge to the other bully, Shimura Eimi.

His plans are tamed compare to his follow up actions, though.  Manabu then went ahead to commit a few more heinous crimes against various females around him.

Main Characters

Don’t blame me for the embarrassingly low resolution of these character sprites… blame Getchu because they were stolen from their site…

木村 学（きむらまなぶ） CV: 氷河流 誕生日：１月２３日（水瓶座） 血液型：Ａ型 身長：160cm　体重：50kg 趣味：音楽鑑賞 好きな物：メロンパン　嫌いな物：運動 典型的ないじめられっ子。 空想癖があり、学校ではいつも一人でいることが多い。 昔から、何か嫌な事があるとその前後の記憶を無くす事があった。

Kimura Manabu is the protagonist of the story and our PoV.  He had a single mother family until she died in an accident, and Manabu’s grandmother has been living with him.  He is anti-social.  He also is smart and calculating.  Even though his physique does not show it, Manabu is capable burst of strengths from time to time.  He has a tendency to “black out” when being forced to deal with unfavorable affairs, and then retains no memory of it afterwards.

Since majority of the story is told through perspective of Manabu, his character development is paramount.  He is not a faceless protagonist in traditional galgames where most development is made via dialog and events.  True to his personality, Manabu keeps most of his thoughts to himself.  As a real criminal and anti-hero, he is able to keep his composure in planning and carry out violence against his victims.

Note: Manabu only gains his voice over at the third and final chapter of the game, through Risa’s recollection of their past.

九条理紗（くじょうりさ）　 ＣＶ：ダイナマイト☆亜美 生日：三月三日（魚座） 血液型：Ｏ型 身長：158cm　体重：45kg スリーサイズ：B80（Ｃカップ）、W56、H85 趣味：散歩、サイクリング 好きな物：観葉植物　嫌いな物：固い靴 マナブの幼馴染。 社交的で責任感が強く、成績優秀な学園のヒロイン。 小学校時代からの友達で、いつもマナブの事を気にかける数少ない同級生。

Kujou Risa is Manabu’s childhood friend.  They have been going to the same school together since elementary school.  She is of the typical osananajimi archetype character: supportive of Manabu in all possible ways, including keep in touch with him despite Manabu doesn’t want her around.  She also is supposed to be a popular girl in her school and quite sociable, though the story does not show much about her interaction with characters other than Manabu and Izumi.

And of course, there’s the “veiled” romantic feeling she has toward Manabu.

Chapter 3 assumes the point of view of Risa to explain her past relating to Manabu (and Izumi, to a lesser degree).  Risa’s background is the  opposite of Manabu’s: born within a rich house and a typical middle-upper class nuclear family.  She has a keen interest in others, especially those who are considered “strange” by her peers, such as Manabu and Izumi.

渡会 泉（わたらいいずみ） ＣＶ：吉川華生 誕生日：6月9日（双子座） 血液型：Ａ型 身長：164cm　体重：44kg スリーサイズ：B79（Ｂカップ）、W55、H83 趣味：読書、映画鑑賞 好きな物：図書館の匂い　嫌いな物：ナンパ リサの中学以来の親友。 リサを尊敬し、リサに近づけるようにと必要以上に物事を頑張るがいつも負けてしまう。 その為、ずっとリサに劣等感を抱き続けている。

Watarai Izumi is a good friend of Risa’s since middle school.  In the eyes of her classmates, she is a quiet person who likes to read.  Izumi has a natural curiosity towards the unknown, and she is not afraid of asking hard questions.  One day she witnessed Manabu “artfully” arguing with the school librarian, since then she kept her interest in him.

Izumi’s personality is somewhat similar to Manabu (minus the tendency to violence, that is).  Her Good Ending is the best possible outcome for Manabu in my eyes… but not so much for herself.  I suppose I find her likeable the same reason I find Manabu being understandable…  She’s a girl with a mature philosophy of life and acts with same level of maturity.  However, there is a big catch towards end of her route, which will be further explained later on in the Story part of this reivew.

志村詠美（しむらえいみ） ＣＶ：白井綾乃 誕生日：10月30日（蠍座） 血液型：Ｂ型 身長：168cm　体重：53kg スリーサイズ：B88（Ｄカップ）、W60、H88 趣味：ショッピング、ダイエット 好きな物：アクセサリー、洋服　嫌いな物：気味の悪いもの全般 マナブたちの先輩。 以前は学校のヒロイン的存在だったが、リサの入学によりその地位を脅かされる。 その為、リサをライバル視している。

Shimura Eimi is one of the senpai who bullied Manabu.  She was not present when the other bully, Misawa, was killed.  She is a stereotypical “female high school bully” type of character ventilating her jealousy on Risa’s popularity in school via her perceived boyfriend, Manabu.  Also typical bully, her attitude made a 180 degree turn when her victim stands up for himself.  When Manabu found Eimi in during the festival, he turned the table around and forced his way on her as Eimi now feared Manabu would kill her the same way he did to Mizawa.

On the other hand, Eimi is very protective of her little sister, Mari.

志村麻里（しむらまり） ＣＶ：岩泉まい 誕生日：四月一日（牡羊座） 血液型：ＡＢ型 身長：138cm　体重：34kg スリーサイズ：B62、W50、H62 趣味：かわいいものあつめ 好きな物：おかし、おねえちゃん　嫌いな物：びょういん 公園で出会う少女。 まだ幼く、大人の言うことに従順に従ってしまう。 ときどき勘違いしたり、会話がかみ合わなかったりする天然キャラ。

Shimura Mari, innocent little sister of Eimi.  Unfortunately there is about zero story revolving this character other than adding loli element into H-scenes.

高杉百恵（たかすぎももえ）　 ＣＶ：伊藤瞳子 誕生日：十月十日（天秤座） 血液型：Ａ型 身長：162cm　体重：50kg スリーサイズ：B89（Ｅカップ）、W60、H90 趣味：水泳、ジョギング 好きな物：動物　嫌いな物：犯罪 フェミニストな婦人警官。 女だてらに一人前になろうと、過剰に職業意識にもえている。 正義感が強く、真面目でやや融通のきかないところがある。

Takasugi Momoe, typical police officer, upholder of the law.  Unfortunately, she is not the nemesis of Manabu.  She is not a female detective who masterminded his search and arrest.  Now come to think of it, it would be a really cool idea if there is any meaningful description of the police force doing something to the fact that a murder suspect is on the loose.  In the end, Momoe is pretty much like Mari, whose function is only to “diversify” the collection of H-scenes.

九条香織（くじょうかおり） ＣＶ：長崎みなみ 誕生日：九月十日（乙女座） 血液型：Ｏ型 身長：165cm　体重：52kg スリーサイズ：B90（Ｄカップ）、W63、H89 趣味：ハーブティ、アロマ 好きな物：生花、石けん　嫌いな物：昆虫 リサの母親。 上流階級の家で育てられ、物腰は上品に洗練されている。 夫とは政略結婚だった為、家庭は冷え切っている。

Kujou Kaori is Risa’s mother.  She is from a upper class family and her marriage to Risa’s father was a political one.  Her role in Carnival’s story mostly remains a typical “Good Mother”.  When her husband opposed Risa befriending Manabu due to the boy is from a poor, single mother family, Mrs. Kujou sided with her daughter.  Yet she isn’t a perfectly speaker of morality when it comes to some secret she holds.

Another notable character who must be mentioned is Takeshi.  Much about him is spoilers so I won’t go into details.  He supposed to be a childhood friend with Manabu and Risa when they were little, and he assumes the role of narrator in the 2nd chapter of the game and plays a very important role in the story.

System — 6/10

I am guessing that for a game from 2005, the system interface may be OK.  Yet from a 2012 standard, it is really bare bone and lack several features.

• Indistinguishable save files.  There is no way to annotate, or preview, a save file.  One has to load from a save file first to find out which part of the story the save file recorded.
• In backlog, the text history does not show name of the speaker, and there is no way to replay the voice.
• There’s a bug where a voice over may be omitted during normal gameplay.  The patch supposed to fix that problem, but I have not tried it.
• The old 2-disk CD version requires disk to run.

The good part of the interface is apart from above few nuances, it is functional and simple to use.

Graphics — 7/10

Carnival’s artwork certainly looks aged after seeing Kawahara’s more recent work.  The true positive points are in the details.  For starters, there is a fair amount of non-ero event CG, which is always a good thing.  Character sprites are generally consistent in both style and quality with event CG–something I can’t say to many visual novels, even the newer ones.  The background images, although a tad low in quantity in my opinion, fit in well with character sprites and CG.

The biggest turnoff from the artwork department in this game is a another common symptom in galgames: variable style of character portraits in event CG.  Though this problem is far from a glaring in Carnival, it is still easy to see same character looks different from separate CG under careful examination.  Also, there is one or two event CG with very suspicious quality that should be rather left unused.

Over all, Carnival is visually pleasant to look at… well, I would say the same thing to Umineko no Naku Koro ni’s character sprite, among many others.  The point is: art style in visual novels is really a hit-or-miss thing that is tied closely to personal taste.  Of course, Kawahara’s style is within the realm of normality in eroge industry, unlike Umineko.

Voice Acting — 6/10

Although Carnival’s cast does not feature any particularly obnoxious voices, the over all quality of the voice overs is mediocre at best.  The unsatisfactory feeling is strong especially for Manabu–when he is finally voiced in chapter 3.  First of all, I feel the overriding reason of not voicing Manabu throughout all chapter is to being cheap… and even in chapter 3, his voice sounds hit me as a disappointment and feels out of sync with the character’s personality.

Sadly, there is nothing really memorable for female characters voices.  Well, maybe except for Izumi.

Music & Animation — 8/10

Detailed information is scarce regarding Carnival’s BGM and OP/ED composition.  According to ErogeScape and the game’s own ED, milktub and Elements Garden are responsible for creating its BGM tracks.  Shown in above screenshot, there are 13 tracks excluding the Opening and Ending theme songs.  Like in most visual novels, the role of BGM is to amplify a particular mood in association with a scene or event.  For that purpose, these BGM tracks in Carnival are very successful.  Though 13 tracks made me thirsty for more, the quantity is justified given the rather short length of the game.

Now, the 8/10 score cannot be given to this department without the game’s memorable opening sequence (and a lesser known ending theme).  The OP shown in the introduction is in fact, the 2nd, or the “inner” Opening.  The 1st OP, which is played every time the game starts and uses the same theme song (「カーニバル」, by NINA), is shown below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GnL2ZHNAl4

I’m usually wary of visual novels trying too hard with a fully animated OP.  It is no where near the level of a TV anime’s opening, but at the same time, it doesn’t suck badly like some others I’ve seen before.  Anyway, I can’t help but feel this opening is even more misleading than the other one…  Anyone seeing this will get the impression that this game will be a traditional galge featuring five heroins.

The ED theme song (「記憶」, by YURIA) is similarly upbeat… YouTube link (spoilers alert).

Story — 7/10

I have heard rumors about Carnival deals with some nasty stuff, but I did not anticipate to be depressing enough to make me temporarily drop out from finishing it up.  Assuming it is the right sort of response the script writers tried to elicit from readers,  I shall mark this self-inflicted exodus a positivity.  Taking an extended break in middle of reading a visual novel is usually a bad thing… not only one forgets the detail form the story, it’s also harder to get back the motivation to pick it up and finish it… Nonetheless, my stall on Carnival lasted 10 months.  Yet it was not a bad decision, since it gave me plenty of time to think about this stuff.  Also, placing a banner in the widget area was a correct choice: it acted as a constant reminder of the priority of this visual novel on my backlog.

Now, let me explain what I meant by the OP being misleading.  Forget what you just saw and learn that Carnival’s story features the following: Rape and other forms of forced sex, domestic violence, incestuous relationship between father and daughter, general violence, and confinement.  What makes it even more potentially offensive is: most these criminal behaviors are exhibited by no other than our protagonist, Manabu, and he isn’t really sorry about it.

Carnival is not a traditional galgame that let readers to woo different heroins.  It has more of the real Text ADV Game feeling: it’s short, and it doesn’t have a lot of meaningless multiple choice questions.  The choices readers have to make in Carnival all have immediate and fundamental impacts, which not only made collecting different bad endings easy, but also instills a better characterization of the protagonist (or should I just say, the chief antagonist) Manabu.

The game is comprised of three chapters.  “Carnival”, bearing the same name as the visual novel, is the first and longest one, and also is the main chapter that told via Manabu’s PoV.  Only two “Good Endings”: Risa’s “True End” that unlocks chapter 2, and Izumi’s “Alternative(?) End”.  And of course, few more Bad Endings.

The story starts with a climax.  Manabu was running away from the police under the guise of darkness.  Recollection retracts to when the patrol car crashed, and then further back to the incident that caused Manabu’s normal, everyday life to end.  He knew he couldn’t dodge the police forever, so he went to see his childhood friend, Risa, to return a handkerchief that she gave him back when he was bullied in middle school.  He also sought out Eimi to let her taste her own medicine.

But things don’t always go according to the plan.

Second chapter, “Monte-Cristo”, is narrated by Takeshi… as mentioned before, he is a key character in the story, but is also one that is full of spoilers.  (Check this out if you are wondering about the meaning of name of this chapter.)  Only two endings in this chapter: one bad end and one leads to chapter three: “Traumerei” (German for dreaming).  In this chapter the reader assumes the PoV of Risa as she unfolds old memories with Manabu since they first met in elementary school.  This chapter has only one ending that echoes Risa’s True End from previous chapters.  It is after completing this final chapter I became a bit undecided whether to consider it happy ending…

The story is straight forward after Manabu chooses to become a man of action.  Yet as a wanted man hiding from the law, paranoia built up.  It doesn’t help when a looming existence of a past acquaintance materializes at this moment, and it is a mystery only to be fully solved in chapter 2.  Meanwhile, the readers are given sufficient knowledge and reasoning to understand the logic behind Manabu’s actions, and through this the readers may feel sympathized toward him.

Manabu’s status of being the biggest psycho around the block does not change after chapter 3, yet his character development dwarfs most other characters combined.

This method of writing: large amount of personality and subjectivity in narration, reminds me of Cross Channel, and it certainly is a welcoming change from Umineko’s style of narration.  One doesn’t need to be a criminal psychologist to be fascinated by way of thinking of a criminal.

Here comes the problem: as I stated two paragraphs above, Takeshi’s role and actions are explained in chapter two.  But during Risa’s turn in Chapter 3, I just couldn’t relate her portrayal of a “mostly normal person”, yet at the same time, an extraordinarily passive accomplice of Manabu who turned her house into a his base of (criminal) operations.

Similar problem with Izumi’s ending.  Izumi has been a pretty bright girl and could think straight.  It just seems to be a complete violation of this character for her to go as far for Manabu in name of love.  An unfortunate conclusion I’ve reached is: while Manabu’s situation may partially have Deus ex Machina to blame, his female companions’ actions are solely the work of Venus.

Not saying that showing symptom of “love” is bad, since Manabu has been a kid who lived a life pitifully lack of love (at least he would think so).  Intriguing it is to derive a “Good Ending” from “love” within the context of the story.  What constitute a good ending?   Or for whose happiness can we say is good?   Deciding whether there is such happiness in Risa’s true ending as shown at end of chapter 3, and whether Izumi’s ending is believable enough to not strike off as a complete fantasy, is like to argue which of the two endings in Saya no Uta is better.

It is up to personal interpretation.

Either way, Manabu earned my personal champion of “best male lead + narrator” role, along with Jingai Makyou’s protagonist, Kumon Katsuki.  Now come to think of it, with a bit less H and a bit more guro, Carnival might really possesses the quality of a Nitro+ game.

On a side note, I’ve been wondering whether there’s a deeper message to be sent for the bad stuff that Manabu has done, like Tanaka Romeo’s Yume Miru Kusuri on drug use and school bullying.  I suppose not, since basically everything happens in Carnival, saves Manabu’s internal struggle and his relationship with Takeshi, Risa, and Izumi, bare down to plot devices.  I feel Carnival’s story definitely has its grasping moments to shock and immerse readers, and come with them the common pitfalls of not having enough (convincing) explanations.

Thus, the 7/10 score is not an indication of mundane, but a reconciliation between the high and low of the entire plot.

Erotic Scenes

Total 17 H-scenes, and over half of them are hardcore stuff (read: rape or forceful intercourse).  Obviously there’s a market out there for this kind of stuff, but unfortunately, it is not my cup of tea.  These scenes are either suppose to arouse readers, or to disturb them, or maybe both; either way I’m just not sadist enough to be able to enjoy them.

In, the other more “mutual” H-scenes are redeeming, especially for the ones with Izumi.

Score Calculation

I apologize for the arcane method of score calculation.  I was experimenting with something… and this is the result…

Raw Score Weighting (total adds up to 100%, multiplier of individual scores given above and scale to 100)

System: 5%
Graphics: 25%
Voice Acting: 10%
Music & Animation: 15%
Story: 45%

Raw Score: 70/100

Enjoyment Bonus (Scale: F=0, D=1, C=2, B=3, A=4, S=5)

B => (100–70) * (3*0.1) = 9

Final Score:

70 + 9 = 79 / 100

Final Words

For a visual novel that I spent more time writing review than reading it, there would be no other motivation than making it more popular to those who would otherwise miss it.  Granted, Carnival is no where near perfect, and with its various “hardcore” elements, is not for everyone, which especially true to beginner of the genre.  But if you don’t find the above mentioned stuff offend your moral bottom line, I strongly recommend you give it a try.

As of tonight, my BF3 soldier (PC) finally reached rank 45 (Colonel) after 103 hours and 29 minutes of playing.  I registered my Battlelog profile on November 23rd, 2011.  That would counts to roughly 35 days, which averages to 3 hours of play time per day everyday.

Quite excessive(?)

Nonetheless, the 103 hours spent on this game gave me a pretty good idea how it should be played to maximize pleasure.  In other words, everything that can be tried I mostly have tried.  It seems my brain is literally impaired for flying jets and helicopters, so I learned never touch those.  Sniping isn’t my cup of tea, either.  Everything else I guess is fair game… except the 12.1% accuracy hints that maybe I can’t aim, lol.

Overall, I like Battlefield 3.  Up to one point I anticipated my absence from both BF3 and MW3 servers.  My prediction was also correct that if I’m going to pick up either of those two “FPS of the Year”, it would be Dice’s Battlefield 3.  Looking at MW3 gameplay videos now I realized how “arcadey” that game is…

But BF3 is also hard to play… unless one is a BF series veteran or a generic FPS genius.  Myriads of weapons for each class to unlock, and most of them carry a standard set of accessories, that needs to be further unlocked…  Land and air vehicles exhibits a similar system, but their control is drastically different from playing as an infantry soldier.  Maps are large and some are confusing and easy to get lost in the urban buildings or trees and rocks.  Yet memorizing key locations is a must in order to survive, and it can only be achieved the hard way, which is to get shot from a well-hidden enemy.

I dedicate my last piece of complain to how much “grind” one has to do in BF3.  I’m strident in opposing adding RPG elements in online FPS, which deprives better “toys” from newbies and reward those toys to those who have grind them out.  So basically, newbies are rendered even less useful in contribution to the team under this system, while the more experienced players using current-meta weapons causing havoc.  Though Dice does seem to have improved their design from previous games (such as BFBC2), so they went ahead to make newbies life less miserable by giving them key equipment early.  Yes, I’m looking at you, Defibrillator.

I can understand the grind element is to keep people motivated, but it seriously needs to be curbed to pave ways to more fair and more accessible gameplay to everyone.  It should not take 100 hours to unlock most weapons and their useful accessories respectively; half of that time would suffice.  These roadblocks should only serve the purpose of gradually introduce gameplay that requires higher skills to new players.  It is silly to force players who simply want a leveled play field to participate in meta-grind scores in artificial game modes, such as fast spawn, high ticket Conquest Metro.  I’ve done it only once or twice, since playing on those Metro servers offer little in gaining player skills.

In the end I’m glad that the game is largely balanced.  The few meta/OP things had and still having Dice’s attention… though I hope there future changes don’t involve “over-nerf” of the IRNV scope, or strange buff to things like SOFLAM.

Warning!  This post is about an erotic anime, and contains link to images with nudity and other sexual content.  Please make sure you are old enough and want to see this kind of stuff.  The URL to those images are marked NSFW.

Erotic anime, hmm.  Actually let’s make it more explicit:  It is borderline porn.  Indeed it may be a natural evolution for this anime’s root being an eroge.  I even tried to clear one route (the Maid’s route).  But my interest in the anime adaption stem mostly from various spoilers I picked up afterwards:

• Official ending is the incest ending (<- not too surprising), with attempted suicide (<- I want to see this).
• In this anime, Haruka (the protagonist) has sex with different girls in a way similar to School Days the anime.
• This anime is pretty much of pornographic nature.  Heavy filtering is applied when it was shown by TV channels.

Above are what I heard about Yosuga no Sora’s anime; some may be untrue.  On a side note, I am watching the BD-Rip version, which translate into R-18 scenes being uncensored, hence the warning

Now I’ve unveiled what kind of colored glasses I’m wearing before I started watching it, let’s start.  I will be updating my progress in a sporadic fasion, so stay tuned!

Episode 1

It’s more deviant than I first anticipated.  If I did not have previous knowledge of Yosuga no Sora, this episode will mislead me into thinking the anime is a harem anime.

The above is the reactions of these girls seeing Haruka for the first time after he and Sora moved back to town.  With the exception of Kuranaga Kozue (right bottom), I don’t remember the other girl acting like that…  I suppose the message in the anime is clear: Everybody wants a piece of Haruka.

Yeah I got the strange feeling that I’m watching a shojo anime.

Other notable difference from the original visual novel is the depiction of Sora.  This character annoyed me beyond belief in the visual novel and was the primary reason I could not bear to clear other routes.  In the visual novel, Sora is a “bitchy princess” type of person who treats her twin brother like a lowly servant or slave.  I know Haruka and Sora eventually commits a “morally incorrect” course of action, which tells me that there has to be some kind of love between them after all… but I was not interested to find out given the bad taste.  In the anime, however, there is a visible change to this character.  Sora is still the Internet addict who exhibits extreme dependency along with disrespectful attitude toward Haruka… but from this episode alone, she only appears to be a jealous trundere–in contrast to the “all tsun, no dere” Sora from beginning of the visual novel.

And there is an important revelation fairly early in this episode, which I imagine either not present or it is Sora route-specific in the visual novel.

Looks like they were 10 years old?

For those who are curious: Haruka is holding a glass bottle… nothing too weird…  This is a key scene for the reason it tells the viewers up front about that these two has a history.  At last, the episode ends with a cliffhanger… pending immediate “actions” next episode? lol.

And yes… I saved the NSFW screenshots for last…

1 2 3

After the ED, in the comical short episode that lasts about 4 minutes long (which comes with its own upbeat ED theme song!), another revelation is made: The Maid is a shotacon.

I wonder, if a porn movie is to strip everything that makes it unsuitable to be aired on a “normal” TV channel, is it still considered porn?  I suppose the question is more fitted for things like Qwaser, though I always consider the erotic scenes in Qwaser is supposed to be comical, thus the heavy censoring, by that extension, also adds to humor.  Yosuga no Sora carries a different weight, and I imagine I won’t be happy seeing certain scenes have 2/3 of the screens blacked out.

Episode 6

Intriguing.  I did not realize the anime is only 12 episodes.  Way to short to cover basics or a regular length eroge.  At least a plus side is to see key events unfold in a time-efficient manner…

A good drama presents a dilemma that provokes thoughts from its viewers.  Despite a few shortcomings, I believe Kazuha and Akira’s arcs achieved the feat in only 6 episodes.

Bravo.

So far Haruka the protagonist has been playing the role of catalyst in sorting out the Kazuha and Akira’s family problems.  Yet his role is very detached, and so far the anime does not appear to have deeper romantic plot.  Everyday things that incubate feelings between the couple largely nonexistent, hence the feeling of the story goes as: day one, they meet; day two, they date; and day three, they have sex.  For this reason, Haruka is still a transparent figure compare to the colorful heroins–not that it would be a problem since Yosuga no Sora is adapted from an eroge.

Due to such restrictions, many of Haruka’s actions are either unreasonable or painfully melodramatic.  The real bondage of two characters which being presented and developed is between Akira and Kazuha (which extends to kazuha’s parents as well).  Guilt may be cliche, but it is powerful and omnipresent in real life that shapes many relationships.  What I like the most is the complex situation that instilled such guilt in characters, and the fact that hard choices have to be made.

My last thought is: can the story be made Rated Teen with one ore more believable male protagonists?  Which part is servicing fans?  The sex scenes or a nice background plot?

Let’s see if the latter half of the anime keeps up with the quality.

Episode 12

It is done.  I finished with the final episode last night, and I am still thinking now: is the ending suppose to be a “good ending” or a “bad ending”?  Depends on interpretation, of course.  It can be good as Haruka overcomes his dilemma and go with Sora to a far away place to find their happiness, or it can be bad for their incestuous relationship was witnessed in its most naked form, thus they have to exile themselves before they become a social outcast.  Either way, Haruka has made his choice, and Kuranaga, the embodiment of moral correctness, sheds tears for him.

I came to an understanding that the central plot revolving the Kasunoga siblings and Yorihime Nao is their sexual defiance, which somewhat ratifies the anime as a whole to be R-18.  Though it is unfortunate  for Nao’s route ended up with a collage of deus ex machina events…  In the end of Nao’s route where Sora came to accept her brother’s romance with Nao, there is no description of the couple explain their initial intercourse to Sora, the incident that is directly responsible for Sora’s hostility toward Nao, hence it makes me wonder whether Sora has really forgiven Nao, or is she still looking for opportunity to sabotage?

NSFW Image

Sora’s route unfolds in a typical tragic fashion.  Sins are committed: Haruka’s Lust for his sister and Sora’s Avarice toward her brother.  Both adolescents are to blame for the outcome.  Sora could have content with maintain a secret sex life with Haruka within the house, but instead she chooses to publicize their relationship in order to alienate Haruka from his friends, and to an extension, the society and its moral values.  Haruka, on the other hand, could have affirm his position as Sora’s older brother and guardian to keep Sora’s actions in check, but instead he chooses to let his sexual desires rule over common sense.

In any case, the audience is educated to lock the god damn door before having sex three feet behind it.

Interestingly enough, Kuranaga, a character remained in the background plays the role of a direct witness in Sora’s route.  She represents the status quo of traditional social values–her detest of Haruka’s incest, but vows secrecy because she knows, if the “truth” gets out, it would doom the siblings’ future along with the good name of Kasunoga family in the town.  The scene of semblance of of other characters in the aftermath illustrate two things:  1. With the exception of Kuranaga, they show their support and wish best luck to the couple; 2. The secret is no longer between Kuaranaga and Nao but is implied to be known among by all of Haruka’s close friends.  The audience is once again reminded the stage of the story: a small Japanese town where people are conservative and news travels fast.  Running away is bound to create rumors, but it is something Haruka and Sora no longer need to care.

Now the maid’s short story clearly shows its redeeming effect in complement to the main plot.

Enough with the criticism.  I think the branching structure of Yosuga no Sora anime is an plausible attempt to stay true to the original visual novel.  It avoided having Haruka the protagonist to become a certain Itou Makoto in his way of dealing with other girls in the story.  But TV anime is inherently a different medium from visual novel, so to recreate visual novel’s (or to be more specific, a generic galgame’s) structure in this anime is rather unsatisfactory.  I suppose it is too much to ask for a 12-episode anime.

I’ll just imagine I am the director and expressing more creative freedom by placing Sora’s route at first and end the anime with Nao’s “Good Ending”.  Starting with a controversy but conclude with a typical happy ending… it may not be the same Yosuga no Sora for those who have experienced the visual novel, but I think it’ll be a much better TV anime.

O, EA.  What can I say!

One may or may not dislike Electronics Arts for its anti-consumer stance when it divorced Steam to marry its own inferior creation, Origin.  EA has a substantial number of games–good for its business, and harder for me to ignore… Dead Space, Dragon Age, and Battlefield franchises all have my money in their pocket.

Here’s how it started.  I installed the brand new copy of Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition, with all DLC and the Awakening campaign.  Having tried Skyrim and swiftly quit with a sour taste in my mouth after 30 minutes prompted me to revisit DAO, the two-year-old game, champion of Western RPG.  I figured: there must be something in DAO that once immersed me so much into its world… something (apparently) I did not find in Skyrim; or maybe something in Skyrim but not in DAO that made me go “meh”?

The question is left unanswered, as the game does not recognize I am the legit owner of the myriad DLCs and would load none of them.  Live chat agent from EA directed me to a labyrinth of threads totaling up to tens of pages–all unofficial troubleshooting.  Culprit: some DRM service that was improperly installed, that needed to be manually turned on from command line and admin tools.

I wonder whether EA realizes that if one to torrent a copy of the game from places like Pirate Bay, chances are the installation steps will be much simpler and doesn’t involve digging into crappy process of debugging my operating system.

The only good better part of contacting EA is now I’m hooked on playing Battlefield 3!

And I got the game for free–two copies of it!

Here’s what happened:

1. 10% discount code is given to me by EA in apology of the problems I had with Dragon Age.
2. The discount would not work on buying BF3’s digital copy, so I bought a boxed copy with it.
3. It occurred to me again to contact EA!  I told them the problem with the discount code not working on digital purchase on Origin.
4. The agent gave me a new code and saying it would work “in a short while”.  I don’t know why I believed him/her so I canceled the order of the game’s box.  It turned out to be a good decision.
5. The new code still not working the next day.  The next agent and I tried to “debug” the issue but failed.  In the end, he gifted me a BF3 CDKEY, aka a free copy of the game.
6. Somehow EA refunded my box version of the game, but somehow the box arrived at my door few days later…

Two lost sales for EA due to their own error, but this time I’m not complaining   Consider the hours I spent digging that ridiculous troubleshooting thread and talking with their online agents, I suppose the value of 2 free BF3 is not too much of an over the top compensation.

Anyway, about the game itself.  I find it much more enjoyable than BFBC2, which is something I regret buying.  Currently I’m still trying to grind out the “good’ weapons… let’s see what will happen after that.

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